(C) ZIMBABWE: UK LOBBYING TOO AHEAD OF IMF VOTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 001629 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2016 TAGS: EFIN PREL ZI UK SUBJECT: (C) ZIMBABWE: UK LOBBYING TOO AHEAD OF IMF VOTE REF: STATE 34530 Classified By: PolCouns Charles Skinner; reason 1.4 (B, d) ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to FCO Zimbabwe Section Head St. John Gould March 3, noting that DOTreasury would contact HMTreasury directly on the same topic. Gould said FCO and HMTreasury were also lobbying IMF Executive Board member states against restoring Zimbabwe's voting rights at the March 8 meeting. He was confident of gaining the necessary support, specifically mentioning Germany as a likely prospect. He agreed with the U.S. approach of taking care not to appear to politicize the IMF, except when dealing with like-minded countries. ¶2. (C) Gould and his team cited an IMF press release dated June 6, 2003 in support of our shared argument that settlement of arrears does not automatically entitle Zimbabwe to restoration of its vote. That press release noted that Zimbabwe's voting and related rights were suspended as "Zimbabwe has not sufficiently strengthened its cooperation with the IMF in areas of policy implementation and payments," and said "the Fund would support the reinstatement of voting rights if Zimbabwe improves its cooperation on economic policies and payments." Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm Tuttle